Water structure and dynamics in phosphate fluorosurfactant based reverse micelle: A computer simulation study

We performed a molecular dynamics simulation on a system containing a water pool inside the reverse micelle made up of an assembly of phosphate fluorosurfactant molecules dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide. The water molecules in the first solvation shell of the headgroup lose the water to water tetrahedral hydrogen bonded network but are strongly bonded to the surfactant headgroups. This change in inter-water hydrogen bonding in connection with the confined geometry of the reverse micelle slows down the translational and especially the rotational dynamics of water. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.